Failing (and flailing) dictator Putin gets angry at the existence of gay people, has his courts fine Google FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS for saying that they do in fact exist.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2023/12/20/russia-claims-google-hosts-extremist-lgbtq-content-levies-50-million-fine/?sh=354de4d72d3aA Russian court fined Google 4.6 billion rubles, or over $50 million, on Wednesday for refusing the government’s demand to take down “disinformation” about the Ukraine war and hosting LGBTQ content on YouTube—which Russia has deemed “extremist.”
Moscow’s Tagansky Court ruled against the tech giant at a hearing on Monday, finding YouTube refused “repeated” demands to remove LGBTQ content and content about the “special military operation”—the Russian government’s preferred name for the war in Ukraine.
Russian prosecutors claim videos posted on YouTube “spread LGBT values” and sought to convince “minors to commit illegal actions,” Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.
This is the steepest fine the search engine has faced in Russia related to spreading information about the LGBTQ movement—which was banned by the country’s Supreme Court in November.
Russia has previously fined the search engine billions of rubles for hosting information about the Russian military—imposing a 7.2 billion ruble ($79 million) fine in 2021 and a 21.7 billion ruble ($238 million) fine in 2022—which prompted Google to pull all employees out of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Google has not returned a request for comment from Forbes.
